INVITATION TO THE VOYAGE
By D. W. BROGAN "HOW did you cross ? " asked a colleague. "I went out by the Queen Mary' and came back by the Normandie '," I replied and was gratified to see what I took for awe registered. But the impression of opulence was immediately shattered when I added that I had gone third-class both ways and a change of countenance (which surmised was admiration for such hardihood) replaced the deference due to wealth. It was not my first trip to America" third "and it will not be my last, yet the revelation that it is possible to go to America in the third-class and survive (with no visible marks of hardship) startles almost everyone I meet.
That this belief should be widespread is unfortunate, for it diminishes the number of persons of modest means who are willing to risk going to America and also of course it diminishes the potentially much larger number of Americans who 'think Seriously of coming to England. Economically, socially, and politically it is desirable that these numbers should be increased, and one way to increase them is to suggest that going third-class to or from America is not equivalent to enduring the hardships of a slave on the Middle Passage or, indeed, any serious hardships at all. It involves no more than a certain sense of proportion and a willingness to abate a little those high and worthy principles of social exclusiveness that are the backbone of English life. The bone, bent a little for less than a week, springs back into position within a few hours of landing, except in those deplorable cases where the bone is not really there at all.
• The objections to going third when the alternative is not to at all, or to cut down time in America or other expendi- ture that one would like to make, arise from vague memories of the old emigrant traffic, of hundreds of passengers of all nationalities being packed like herrings en route for Ellis Island. Today, a bad thing for the world but a bad thing with its bright side, there is no emigrant traffic to America. From the point of view of the third-class passenger of the Modem type this is an advantage in all respects but one. The old emigrants may not have been given luxuries, but they were given space and if you travel on a pre-War vessel you benefit by the abundant deck-space provided for the old Masses and now available for the much smaller as well as more select body of modern third-class passengers. To one who remembers the old 'Mauretania' or even the Aquitania,' the deck-space available in third on the Queen Mary' or the Normandie ' is meagre and it is far more meagre, in usability if not in mere space, on the British than on the French ship. The third-class deck space on the 'Queen Mary' gives the impression of being an after- thought and, for those who like sitting in deck chairs and in general leading a "healthy ship life," the Normandie ' offers better facilities. But the true third-class passenger is the one who wants to get to America or Europe as quickly and as cheaply as possible. Without taking such drastic steps to discover this truth he agrees with Mr. Astaire that " the Pacific isn't terrific and the Atlantic isn't what it's cracked up to be." If you don't think this, go and cruise in warmer waters at less expense.
On every other point the comparison is vastly in favour of the new third-class. The accommodation is at least as good as that of second twelve years ago and much better than that of tourist in its early days. There is hot and cold water in every cabin ; there is good air-conditioning on the 'Queen Mary' (and better on the Normandie ') and there are adequate public rooms. It is, perhaps, characteristic of something or other that the chairs in the public rooms of the 'Queen Mary' are much more comfortable than those of the Normandie,' while the beds on the Normandie invite slumber more easily than those of the Queen Mary.'
In feeding, the contrast is still more striking. On the 'Queen Mary' one is offered, indeed pressed, to consume vast quantities of food of which the raw materiaN have been abundant and good. Every kind of meat is there and it is perhaps being hypercritical to complain that they all taste much alike. One has no desire to encourage foreigners in their deplorable illusions, but I have not met an American who has tried both, who has not preferred the food of the Normandie.' There one is invited to take a table d'hote meal (there are a la carte facilities for such as want them; but the meal, less lengthy and less elaborate than that on the British ship, is more appetising. It is more of a compo- sition. Then the presence of unlimited quantities of white and red wine, not very good but decidedly drinkable and free, no doubt gives some persons a higher opinion of French Line cooking than it may deserve. On older Cunard ships wine used to be served in jugs, but the 'Queen Mary' is not so generous. This is a mistake.
Energetic persons cannot walk round the ship or swim in third, but they can play deck games to their heart's content and the more idle have really well-chosen little libraries on both ships ; they have, too, the bar and the movies. In the matter of films the improvement, even over the last two years, has been startling. I have seen films at sea that may have been made on board during charades or in film studios which are to real film studios what trade-gin factories are to the distilleries of Grantown. Today one can see the pick of current films (whatever that may be) and there was a certain amuse- ment in seeing Lloyds of London on the Normandie,' for that film ends with Trafalgar. But the French Line is very far from being chauvinist. On a very elaborate menu-card was the picture of the 'Soled Royal' which, the legend informed us, fought at La Hogue under Tourville. Will the Cunard reciprocate by giving a picture of some British ship which fought at Beachy Head under Torrington ?
The real fear of many otherwise hardy souls which keeps them out of third and so out of America is the danger of evil communications corrupting excessively good manners. There is such a danger ; if your social position weighs heavily on your mind you will be more at home at borne. That little group which dressed for dinner every evening on the Queen Mary' last September, kept itself to itself so rigidly that it cannot have heard the comments it provoked by its upholding the standards of decency, but it may well have suspected a slight note of irreverence. But one passenger, at least, was completely converted on that Sunday night when (as is eminently proper) they appeared in day clothes (subfuse of course). The " Pukkas " (for so some ill-conditioned young men had christened them) had won. On the whole, it is better not to dress for dinner - or to frown too severely at the ill-conduct of one's fellow passengers. If one is on a British ship it is in order to hint, quite soon, that one is travelling this way for all sorts of reasons except financial. On a French ship such a confession would be not merely unnecessary but scandalous. The English bar is a cheerier spot than the French bar, but there is more sociability on the Normandie.' When the film was late, for example, the audience encouraged song and were rewarded by praise of Sorrento from a cheerful young man who was obviously ready to amuse us till the film arrived. He didn't get the chance to exhaust his repertoire as the show began just after he had promised " Sole Mio," but his exhibition of simple pleasure in his voice would have been decidedly out of place on a British ship, except of course in a bath room or on such formal occasions as those on which Mr. Peasemarsh renders the " Bandolero."
Of course, one may have passengers as neighbours who do more than drop aitches. It was not unreasonable of a friend of mine to ask for a change of cabin since his Greek neighbour went to bed in his boots. And it is usually easy, except at the busiest times of the year, to effect exchanges or to get suitable company at the little tables in the dining-room.
If you are fond of sailing as such, there is no point in going on the North Atlantic where you get, in every class, less miles of salt water for your money than on any other route. If you cannot bear the thought of being immersed even for five days in an inferior social atmosphere, don't go third. But if your motive is to see as much of America as you can in as short a time as you can, save time and money by going third if the alternative is not to go at all. As for the company, it is hard, after a day or two, to discover who is looking down on whom.
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